6533b823fe1ef96bd127ea1a

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Size-Dependent Oxygenation and Energy Status in Multicellular Tumor Spheroids

Jörg DötschStefan WalentaBeatrice Bourrat-flöckWolfgang Mueller-klieser

subject

Programmed cell deathNecrosisChemistryCellSpheroidOxygenationOxygen tensionMulticellular organismmedicine.anatomical_structureIn vivoembryonic structuresmedicineBiophysicsmedicine.symptom

description

Multicellular tumor spheroids show numerous analogies to tumor microregions in vivo, such as the development of central necrosis at a certain spheroid size (for reviews see: Mueller-Klieser, 1987; Sutherland, 1988). The histological structure of the cell aggregates suggests that diffusion limitation of oxygen or nutrients in spheroids may cause cell death in the innermost parts of the spheroids. However, measurements with oxygen-sensitive microelectrodes are indicative of necrosis arising in the presence of relatively high oxygen tension (PO2) values, as they were found in normal tissue (Carlsson and Acker, 1985; Mueller-Klieser et al., 1986). Although still controversial in literature, recent determinations of glucose diffusion coefficients allow for the calculation of penetration depths for this metabolite that exclude any diffusion limitation for glucose in spheroids with early necrosis (Cas-ciari et al., 1988; Doerschel et al., 1989).

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-8181-5_102